For this final post of the month, we have updates on upcoming albums featuring local metal talent, but first, here's LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for he months ahead!
Local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will make his way to the newly opened Beck's Bar at least thrice in mid-2025, with Sunday matinees booked for May 11th, July 20th, and August 31st! His show there on the 11th will be his first gig at the former Vibe Lounge in about fourteen years, back when his band Caveman Morrison were in full force, so this has been a long time coming even if it's now solo! Beck's live music schedule is slated to feature live bands on Saturday nights with matinee performers on Saturdays and Sundays, both at the slightly unique start time of 3:00 PM, but all three of Tym's dates here are Sunday affairs, with the August 31st show falling on the Labour Day long weekend. Hopefully Tym gets a strong reception at this new-ish Goulais Avenue venue in two weeks and beyond! All three dates are 19+ affairs with no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!
Next up, here's some news on two new/upcoming local metal albums, starting with a brand new release, as local industrial metal act The Realignment Project released their new EP "The Frustration Sessions" on Monday! According to their Facebook page, it is "now available everywhere", and by "everywhere", they mean Bandcamp once again, as well as YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, and even the Taiwanese streaming service KKBox, all of which now host T.R.P.'s debut EP "Afterthought" as well. "The Frustration Sessions" can be bought in mp3 format on Bandcamp on a "name your price" model, and on iTunes for $5.94, so consider buying it to support Matt's work! As well, the first song "Rocketship" got a lyric video for the project's official YouTube channel, as four songs from "Afterthought" also got at the time. Matt had also teased a lyric video for "Static" in this Facebook "Reel", but it has yet to be made public.
Given the close timeframe since The Realignment Project released "Afterthought" in January, a review of "The Frustration Sessions" isn't imminent. I reviewed their debut in February, so with the buffer period of six months that I enforce to space out reviews of the same act to avoid showing a bias, I currently have this new EP slotted in for a review in August. That said, fans of industrial rock and Matt's old band Riverin will definitely want to check out "The Frustration Sessions" at the above links, and give the "Rocketship" lyric video a watch below!
Also, here's the latest from Sault Michigan metal solo project X's & Y's, who have confirmed that their second studio album "Ruination Coactive" will be released to major streaming services and in limited CD copies on Friday, June 13th! The track listing reveal from last month may have hinted towards this release timeframe, as one song is named "The Gemini Machine". Technically, the album's name is "Яuiᴎдтюᴎ Koдcтive" given the faux Cyrillic, but spell that at your own peril. To go along with the impending album release, X's & Y's have launched a BigCartel page to sell extant CD copies of their debut album "The Obsidian Dream", stickers of both albums' cover artwork, and even "Ruination Coactive" keychains. Keep all this in mind to support X's & Y's and original E.U.P. metal! Yes, the URL references Werehold Records, project leader Jason Mills' old indie label that he used as an imprint for "The Obsidian Dream" (hint for future plans?)
We'll know more on "Ruination Coactive" in about a month & a half, and a formal album review should be in order for the SMS this summer, but here's a new teaser video from X's & Y's' Facebook page on April 2nd featuring Jason "dubbing some stuff (that he) wasn’t happy with the first million times". The 23 seconds-long clip has him riffing on a guitar, albeit not hooked up to an amplifier, so it sounds like tinny acoustic strumming. No point commenting on it yet, but it's an effective teaser at the studio metal material ahead, so give it a watch for yourselves below!
Finally, here's the latest from Sault Ontario crossover thrash quartet Hails, who are on a new CD release of their own! While its official public on-sale date is June 7th, the cross-Canada compilation album "Punk Canada Vol. 4" (featuring covers of domestic Canadian punk bands) is available early from Ha!ls members for $20, and it features them covering Toronto punk legends The Almighty Trigger Happy's song "Meathook". As best as I can gather, this cover isn't available yet for streaming, but if you want to hear it, former Saultite Ash Richtig's Windsor band Avoid The Comment Section, and more right away, give Hails a shout! In terms of an embeddable video to send things out with, guitarist Carmen Muto is the focus of this new video from Ha!ls' Facebook page of him playing some sweeps on his guitar for 14 seconds. Why this horizontal landscape video was uploaded in pillarboxed vertical dimensions, I don't know, but Carmen shows his skills nicely here!
Hails will play their first show of 2025 on May 8th (one week from tomorrow!) when they open for The Dayglo Abortions at Soo Blaster, so stay tuned for our preview of that and much more from Ha!ls as this year rolls along! Give the new "Sweepman" video a watch below (and Brent, I'm sorry!)
That's all for now, but weekend concert previews are on the way next! Thanks everyone!
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